Sizzling Summer Giveaway: Guest Post with Jamie Ayres

Even though it's winter here, it's summer somewhere else in the world (in most other places really *sigh*) so I'm taking part in the Sizzling Summer Giveaway hosted by YA Bound! I've got a guest post to promote an author and YA Bound is also giving away TWO Kindle Fires. Yup you heard right, TWO Kindle Fires. Smoking. (I know that was lame).

The author I'm featuring on my blog is Jamie Ayres. Her debut novel 18 Things was released in January this year.



Synopsis:
"Olga Gay Worontzoff thinks her biggest problems are an awful name (after her grandmothers of course) and not attending prom with Conner, her best friend and secret crush since kindergarten.

Then Conner is killed in a freak boating accident and Olga feels responsible. When she downs an entire bottle of pills to deal with the emotional pain, her parents force her into counseling. There, her therapist writes a prescription in the form of a life list titled 18 Things. Eighteen quests to complete the year of her eighteenth birthday.

All she has to do is fire-walk, try out for the cheerleading squad, break a world record, and err . . . go on her first date. Good thing Nate, a new hottie in town, enters her life with perfect timing. He brings the fun factor to her list and helps her discover the beauty and strength inside herself, then complicates things by falling in love with her.

But there's more to Olga’s quests than meets the eye and when her therapist reveals a terrifying secret, her world is shaken.

There’s only one thing she knows for certain: her choices won’t just affect her future, but all eternity."

18 Things is available here:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Add 18 Things to Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17253972-18-things

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Jamie's Top Ten Rules for Creating Bucket Lists

You’ve seen the movie, maybe even read 18 Things (wow, thanks!!) Now you’re inspired to create your own list *yay* But you have no idea where to start. Well, have no fear—Jamie Ayres is here! First, let’s start by defining what a bucket list is: something completely personal that each person should do (IMHO). It’s a great reminder to live life to the fullest and to keep looking forward, even when life wants to drag us down. Now then, here are my top 10 rules for creating bucket lists:

1. Visualize the list as the story of your life. What things have you never gotten around to doing and would be upset about it if you died today? 
2. Do not participate in anything that will earn you an ambulance ride at the end of it. (ex: like skydiving above a bull farm) 
3. or causes the neighbors to call the cops. (ex: like stealing your neighbor’s car to make a run for the border at 1a.m. . . . not that I ever go to Taco Bell for a fourth meal *coughs*) 
4. Practice random acts of kindness with your list. Most people will amaze you at how they pay it forward! (I didn’t rise to instant Bestseller status on Amazon the week of my debut release by being a jerk!) 
5. Don’t get ‘stage fright.’ Believe in yourself even when nobody else does. (Napolean Dynamite and Susan Boyle are good examples of this one!) 
6. Don’t be afraid to laugh at yourself . . . most people are probably laughing at you already *oh wait, that’s just me;-)* 
7. No pain, no gain. You owe it to yourself to see what all the fight is about. See the joy set before you when accomplishing your task. (ex. Run a marathon to raise $ for your favorite cause—you know you want to!) 
8. Don’t be afraid to fail on your quest to excellence, but rather, enjoy the journey . . . “If a thing is worth doing at all, it is worth doing badly.”—Gustav Holst 
9. Live life to the fullest and stay young at heart . . . who cares if I’m a 33yo women that acts half her age? (Okay, this is the biggest complaint of my 13yo daughter, lol) 
10. Once you achieve your goals, keep writing new ones! “There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.” –Oscar Wilde *So as Subway would say, Keep It Fresh!*

About Jamie Ayres

Jamie Ayres writes young adult paranormal love stories by night and teaches very young adults as a public school teacher by day. When not at home on her laptop or at school, she can often be found at a local book store grabbing random children and reading to them. So far, she has not been arrested for this. She lives in southwest Florida with her prince charming, two children (sometimes three based on how Mr. Ayres is acting), and a basset hound. She spent her youthful summers in Grand Haven, Michigan and this setting provided the inspiration for her debut novel, 18 Things. She really does have grandmothers named Olga and Gay but unlike her heroine, she's thankfully not named after either one of them. She loves lazy pajama days, the first page of a good book, stupid funny movies, and sharing stories with fantastic people like you.

Visit her website at www.jamieayres.com.

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